The Prince's Revenge: SYSTEM

CHAPTER TEN

A SMALL FAVOR

“Life is filled with opportunities, different opportunities that can take your life to the next level and all you have to do is to grab it, seize it by the horns, your whole life depends on you choosing how to seize the moment… this moment in front of me is one that I so desired to live in, one that I have been dreaming about since I was a little girl, being the princess of a kingdom, the wife of a prince then eventually turns king and I eventually turn into a queen, it was a life that I dreamed about but I never lived it… It was hard to live your dreams when you are stuck in a town like Borcher that is beyond dilapidated and poor, there was barely any clothed children running through the streets, bandits lurked every alley and homeless people slept on the floors of the street”.

“There was no money but if there was any money, it was collated and spent by the corrupt council of elders that have been ruling for years and they still had supreme rule over the whole town which was not that big… to be honest, the only reason why we were not wiped out from the map was because we still paid our tribute to Mytigon even though it was usually in form of slaves and a few livestock that we managed to afford. The restaurant was all we had and my mother strived daily to keep the shop running because it served as our home as well, I helped out my mother in any way that I could by taking orders and serving customers with a big smile on my face, I could never let the conditions of my life weigh me down even though reality had me in a tight spot with dreams bigger than my head and bigger than the town that I was born in…”.

“MORGANA!! Snap out of your daydream and come and get these orders to their tables!” Theresa shouted at her daughter who was talking to herself in the bathroom mirror, Morgana blinked her green eyes and brushed her blonde hair from her soot covered face, she had initially gone to the bathroom to wash her soot covered hands.

“I will be right out, mom” Morgana said to her mother that had a serious scowl on her face, she looked so much like Morgana and vice versa, they were like the older and younger version of each other, Theresa had green eyes as well but she had dyed her blonde hair to black because she had lost her husband and she refused to change it back.

“I am not giving you no more than thirty seconds to get out” Theresa left and Morgana let out a sigh of relief and finally washed her hands and her face as well, she looked at the mirror with so much confidence because she was aware of her beauty and her pride was in her eyes and her complete smile, she had a stunning figure that she could see whenever she gripped the apron tight but there was one problem and that was her clothes which were rags or clothes that were close to rags.

“I don’t know how I am going to get into a ball that only elite class maidens would be attending? I have to look like them to blend in and to increase my chances of being selected, the only problem is getting the money for such a dress that suits the occasion” Morgana left the bathroom with her head down, she was feeling sad because of the way her life was without the advantages that the other maidens would have at the ball, she attended the orders with a long face that was very unlike her, she didn’t even smile when the customers tried to joke with her.

“Morgana, have you heard about the ball?” one of the regular customers asked her with a grin but she did not even flinch.

“I am sure that every maiden in this town has heard about it, I heard about it and so?” Morgana said in an expressionless voice, she answered him as if she didn’t have any life in her body.

“Are you not planning to go for the screening? You might get in… with that pretty smile of yours” the customer made Morgana’s face to brighten up a bit, she was feeling confident of herself once again.

“You really think so?” Morgana asked the customer again just to be sure, the man suddenly burst into a loud laughter that made everybody in the restaurant to pause in the middle of their meal and look at the guy with puzzled faces.

“You really think that any girl would be selected from here? That screening is a chance for those slimy bastards that call themselves the council to eat young beautiful girls like you, all in the name of giving you a chance to be the bride of the prince… Don’t deceive yourself, darling… the only people that are getting into that top ten are only the daughters of the elites, don’t waste your time hoping because you wouldn’t even go past the gates of Mytigon, those people don’t want anything with lowlife creatures like us!” the customer burst out into another bout of loud laughter, Morgana could not let him ridicule her in her own home, she picked up his plate of soup that was on the table and she emptied the contents on his head, the rest customers gasped but they didn’t do anything since it was Morgana’s shop so she could do whatever she wanted.

“GET OUT!!” Morgana shouted at the guy who was still trying to wipe the soup from his face.

“You are wasting your time, just get a husband from your own hometown instead casting your lot in a game that would not favor you in any way, you will remember my words when you come back here crying” the guy said as he left, Morgana ran away from the scene of the action before her mother could ask any questions, she ran to her room to crack her savings box and she collected all the coins that was inside it and dashed out of the restaurant without saying anything to her mother.

Morgana avoided the bodies that swarmed the streets, she ran to the shop that sold fancy dresses and she dashed into the shop to see only a few ordinary dresses and not the ones that were fit for a ball, Morgana asked the shop attendant and she was informed that all the fancy dresses had already been bought by girls that were interested in the screening, there was no fancy dresses left and the woman would not be able to make one for Morgana before the day of the ball. Morgana left with a heavy heart and she walked so far out of the town where there was nothing but trees, she roamed the woods with her sadness being dragged around the place.

“Psstt… you there!” a weak feminine voice called out to her from a clump of bushes, Morgana walked towards the bush with caution, she was well aware of the dangers that lurked in the forest but the voice sounded human.

“Anybody there?” Morgana called out and she got a response sharply.

“Yes, sad one… there is somebody here, please help me get up” a hand stretched out to her and she pulled up the old woman that was wearing tattered cloak, she had long white hair and raggedy teeth.

“Thank you, sad one” the witch said to Morgana, she arranged her potions that was in a leather bag and she was about to go her way but Morgana had a few questions to ask her.

“Why do you call me that?”.

“You were walking with a strong aura of sadness so I assumed that was going to be your name, what is your name then?”.

“Morgana”.

“That’s a nice name, I used to have an apprentice witch with the same name but she went bad eventually…” the old woman got lost in thought as she mentioned the apprentice.

“Why were you in that bush?”.

“I was looking for ingredients for my potion, I still haven’t found it yet… why were you so sad? Morgana”.

“I was sad because I don’t have a dress to go for the ball and I really wanted to go”.

“I see, do you believe that you have what it takes to be selected?”.

“Of course, I have never been so sure of any other thing in my life” Morgana said with her eyes shining, the witch thought about something for a minute before she spoke again.

“I can help you out but you have to do something for me”.

“Seriously? What is it that I have to do?” Morgana was so eager but the witch was very calm and tentative.

“It’s nothing much… only a small favor to merit a favor in return”.